There are many instances in today's marketplace of having to raise money to fund a desired project. Such projects may be in the form of various new business projects and ventures including, but not limited to, non-profit projects, cause-related projects, real-estate projects and projects related to the arts. Historically people needing to raise money for such projects have had to turn to using personal funds, charitable contributions of others, government grants, bank and other third party loans and investors which expect a return on their investment. Due to the limited pool of grant money, the number of prospective donors having cash available and the uncertainty of the ultimate success of many of these projects which may deter the banks and investors, fund raising is notoriously difficult.
With the continuing popularity and use of social media for business purposes, there has developed new types of fund raising mediums such as “crowd funding”, for example, which allows projects to be listed on a crowd funding internet site such as “Kickstarter.com”. In this methodology, anyone with an internet connection can donate their money to the project of their choice. As stated in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_funding#Pros_and_cons):
“Crowdfunding (alternately crowd financing, equity crowdfunding, crowd-sourced fundraising) is the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.[1][2] Crowdfunding is used in support of a wide variety of activities, including disaster relief, citizen journalism, support of artists by fans, political campaigns, startup company funding,[3] motion picture promotion,[4] free software development, inventions development, scientific research,[5] and civic projects.”, and
“Crowdfunding can also refer to the funding of a company by selling small amounts of equity to many investors. This form of crowdfunding has recently received attention from policymakers in the United States with direct mention in the JOBS Act; legislation that allows for a wider pool of small investors with fewer restrictions.[2] While the JOBS Act awaits implementation, hybrid models, such as Mosaic Inc., are using existing securities laws to enable the public in approved states to invest directly in clean energy projects as part of a crowd.”, and
“Crowdfunding has its origins in the concept of crowdsourcing, which is the broader concept of an individual reaching a goal by receiving and leveraging small contributions from many parties. Crowdfunding is the application of this concept to the collection of funds through small contributions from many parties in order to finance a particular project or venture.”
Since this is such a new area of internet commerce, as noted by Wikipedia, legislation is still developing in this area in an attempt to put some controls over the process which may limit the availability of this methodology as a potential funding source for many people.
Furthermore, this methodology relies on people willing to donate their own money to the project which makes it difficult to raise money especially if the project is not emotionally appealing to a large population of potential contributors.
Due to the above described limitations of existing fund raising methodologies, there remains a need for an improved method, system and apparatus for raising funds for projects.